Mechassault 2 Lone Wolf (Limited Edition)

by Microsoft

Product Features

• Xbox
• ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
• Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi
• Limited Edition 2-Disc Set

Product Details

• ASIN: B0006I5FLU
• Item Weight: 5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: April 13, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,035 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf continues the massive destruction, intense combat, and addictive online play that gamers expect. You'll return to the wars and go it alone in 15 fully destuctible environments. Sell your services to the highest bidder, join up with an army, or form your own group and pursue your own goals. Equip your Mech with the right weapon and artillery configurations and destroy anything in your way. For added excitement, players can now communicate with their teammates via the Xbox Live Communicator headset.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good sequel, plenty of action, March 13, 2005

By 

Christian Wheeler "Husband/Father/Gamer/Proud... (St. Louis) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Mechassault 2 Lone Wolf (Limited Edition) (Video Game)

The original Mech Assault was one of the first big hits for the XBox system. Borrowing from the old Battle Tech franchise, the original game was an excellent shoot-em-up that boasted destructable environments (ever take down a city one building at a time?) and first-rate action. Though repetitive, it was never boring, and I still play it from time to time. This sequel offers much of what made the original so much fun, and adds some nice new features that make this a slight cut above its predecessor.

For one, the designers borrowed an idea from the GTA series (or maybe from Metal Arms): Hijack an enemy's mech (or other vehicle) and use it against the opposition. Unfortunately, one can't pick just any enemy to hijack; the game's plot requires you to jack specific mechs or vehicles at certain points of the game. Granted, it's still fun to be able to sneak up on an enemy and steal his mech, but it would have been more fun to be able to do it at random (a la Metal Arms). That would have added a twist to the gameplay. Still, it's a welcome addition.

Like the original, the sequel requires you to follow a certain path: defend the Icarus, destroy enemy bases and equipment, and defend innocents from the marauding Mechs of the Word of Blake (yes, they're back). The unusual technology captured from the Word at the end of the original plays a key role in the plot, and the enemies you face are more difficult to kill as a result. Even low-level mechs are a little more challenging than before. And, there are the bosses. Mech Assault featured just one major boss, whereas Mech Assault 2 features multiple powerful bosses that are reasonably tough. I won't give away too much, but the first boss you face--a gargantuan spider-like mech--is easily one of the coolest things to grace any XBox game in a while. (To give you an idea of what it's like, think of the Scarab in Halo 2). Many of the original mechs are back, and one thing I like about the new mechs in this game is the greater combination of speed and power than before. For example: in the original, Thor mechs offered sheer destructive power, but moved so slowly that I sometimes found my thumbs aching after a showdown with multiple enemies. The new mechs offer both greater firepower and ease of movement--a definite (and welcome) plus.

While Mech Assault featured excellent graphics, with an emphasis on graphically realistic building destruction, this game offers sharper environmental design, more detailed mechs, and some genuinely awesome effects: When a mech explodes, the detonation now causes a ripple-like warp effect in the immediate area. The greater emphasis on these type of effects comes at the expense of some others: You can still destroy buildings and other structures, but the ensuing collapse is less satisfactory. Like the original, the destructable environments offer a tactical advantage--you can still drop a building on top of an unsuspecting enemy. Cutscenes and other graphical extras are well-designed and animated. It definitely showcases how much better console graphics have become in just a few short years.

Overall, this a solid sequel to the original, and is recommended.

I hope this review was helpful
--Christian Wheeler, gamer and games retailer

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the Cash, December 28, 2004

By 

L. J. Jordan (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Mechassault 2 Lone Wolf (Limited Edition) (Video Game)

I have only played the game for an hour or so, but my first impression was a good one. It's definitely worth the money, and the sooner you buy it, the more likely you are to get the limited edition. It costs the same, but it comes with extra levels. I figure they did that to get people to buy it right after Christmas (when brand new games aren't sold as well).
I'm not a huge mech-fan; I don't usually play mech games, but this game does a really great job at mixing in a few different elements. There are quite a few different types of mechs, and you can switch between them during the mission. You can even hijack an enemy's mech! Also, the entire environment is destructible. A building in your way? Knock it down.
Overall, this game is a great game. I research my games thoroughly before buying them, and this one was a no-brainer.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as I had hoped., January 2, 2005

By 

R. Hall "Robbman2000" (Des Moines) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Mechassault 2 Lone Wolf (Limited Edition) (Video Game)

I am a huge fan of MechAssault 1 and have been playing it ever since it came out. I've played the second one for 4 days now and am pretty disappointed. After 1 hour of game play I was so mad I was ready to take it back but I gave it a while to be fair. This review reflects online play only. The offline game you can complete in 3 hours. Ok storyline.

Graphics:

The graphics are up to date as I expected since it has been a couple years since the last release. The graphics for the maps are ok. It seemed like the put the power into special effects. Special effects for weapons and when mechs blow up are amazing. The lighting effects when missiles travel a crossed the terrain is really good. You'll see the lighting against the walls and trees and what not. When mechs blow up the screen kind of warps and debris is sucked into the explosion. REALLY nice effect. If a mechs blows up in water a bubble forms like in the last Matrix movie when Neo is fighting Anderson.. Neat water effects. When walking through water the waves are realistic. These neat effects are on some maps only. Some of the maps are amazing looking while other just plain out suck. See New River City. It looks like PS1 graphics. Maybe even Kelico vision.


Sound:

The sound is much better. Depending on what you are walking on, the sound will change accordingly. Trees, brush, cement, whatever. Level 3 weapons don't sound as striking as they did in the last game though. I miss the Level 3 gauze rifle sound. You KNOW when someone is leveled up in the first MA and you better run. The second one I don't know if the person is level 1 or 3. I just know I'm standing there dieing.

The Game:

Four more mechs to play with which is nice. They aren't that great but it is more "choices". You now have a VTOL that you can carry items with to assist your teams mates. The VTOL is a great addition to Team Destruction. This adds a great dynamic to the game. Be prepared to have people nag you for powers ups the entire game if you decide to play VTOL. You have a new tank which at first I thought was useless but in Team you can knock a Prometheus or an Atlas on the ground and keep them there for your team to blast away.

In Destruction (which I think they ruined) you start out in power armor and most likely you will spend most of the game in the power armor. You have to find a mech on the map or jack one. You cannot pick the mech that you want. I feel like they should have called this game "Mech Jack II". For mech assault you sure spend a lot of time outside of a mech.

In Destruction most likely the person that wins the game would note have even been in a mech the entire game. You can score big points for jacking a mech so the incentive is to jack mechs for the entire game. I spend more time doing the mini game (see Simon) to keep my mech from being jacked more than anything. Y-X-Y-A-B-R-L-L. Basically you're forced to play Giant Killers the entire time. If you remember right that was not a really popular game type in MA1. Beats me, I only play it once and thought it was stupid.

It took me 3 hours to find the right map and get into even a promi. Then 4 kids came up and eventually jacked it. I haven't seen a Ragnarok or have even heard of it's where abouts though I see a picture of it in the manual. The fact that I don't have a choice in what mech I play pisses me off the most. This goes for Team Destruction as well. You have to beat your own team members to mechs.

Gameplay:

The mechs are excruciatingly slow and targeting is sluggish. Mechs are so slow it takes away from the aggressiveness of the game. The maps are much bigger too which is great but try to get a crossed the map in an Atlas. Once you get into a mech it's boring compared to the feel of MA1. The MA1 got my blood pumping at times and I remember sitting at the edge of my chair when a room full of good players were in the room. This one comparably is a walk in the park.

Teamplay in this game is much better than the first despite all my gripes. You will have to play with people who know what they are doing though otherwise it's frustrating. I love having someone fly the VTOL around without giving you powerups. Or some dork that doesn't know how to drive a heavy mech takes it and gets it kill continuesly.

XBOX Live options:

You cannot join games already in progress like most new games. They are still using the original lobby. You have to try to time when you go into a game with a friend. Good luck trying to get your friends into 1 room. And yes it's still the same old if you're playing a game and get an invite you have to leave the current game and ditch your current players and TRY to make it fast enough to your invite. They had 2 years to think about this so I don't know why this wasn't fixed. It's nice in Halo 2 when you start a room with 1 or 2 friends then eventually more people on your friends list join.

No biggy but finding your friends list in the menu is screwed up. When you get a friends game invite and you're struggling to see who it is you have to do like 3 or 4 steps to get to the invite (while you're being shot at or being jacked).

My gripes:

Slow mechs
Can't choose my mech.
I don't like the power armor idea. I never played elemental.
No choice to turn off mech jacking. I hate stupid mini games. I don't want to get good at it either.
The lobby is ancient technology.
Game still freezes and people still drop when starting games.

I wanted to say that I hate the game but I keep playing it just because it's new. The last MA had a huge following and very long duration. But I think this title will be played a lot then just fade away. I actually played MA1 almost as much as MA2 this past weekend. I had more fun in MA1 though the graphics were a little older.

If you were a heavy destruction player you will not like this game.

If you were a team destruction player you may like it better than I do.

If you didn't own or were a fan of MA1 maybe this one will be great for you since it is the newest game and is "ok".

**************

Update - after 2 months I found myself not playing the game. I took it in for store credit.